George Demas was an American pedologist whose pioneering studies of subaqueous soil contributed to the understanding of soil formation and the expansion of the concept of soil.
Education
Born in the United States., he earned a Bachelor of Surgery in Soil Science from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1980 followed by an Master of Surgery in soil genesis in 1982. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Maryland in 1998.
Career
United States Department of Agriculture soil taxonomy was revised as a result. His thesis on subaqueous soils earned two awards United States Department of Agriculture - Secretary’s Honor Award for Scientific Research, and Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) - The Emil Truog Award for outstanding contribution to Soil Science. George Demas worked as a soil surveyor for the Natural Resources Conservation Service in the states of Maryland and New Jersey from 1982 to 1994.
During this time he determined that submerged sediments function in the landscape sufficiently similar to soils to be indistinguishable.
Soil Survey Horizons published his concept in He returned to the University of Maryland and researched his ideas from 1994 to He resumed his duties with United States Department of Agriculture-NRCS and continued working until his death in 1999 after contracting pneumonia.